Spencer Tillman: Saban is scared to death of Texas A&M

(Posted on 1/27/13 at 1:16 pm)

quote:But Saban and the Tide are not infallible, Tillman said. Texas A&M showed us that last season under first-year coach Kevin Sumlin and Heisman-winning quarterback Johnny Manziel, winning 29-24 in Tuscaloosa.

“Texas A&M is the model. If anybody is scared of Texas A&M, it’s Alabama,” Tillman said.

“Nick Saban is scared to death. Because now Kevin Sumlin not only has a system that has been proven to work as a counterpunch at lesser programs like the University of Houston, where you can win 12 (with) the scheme (and) the pace of the game. Now he’s got the Jimmys and the Joes that look just like Alabama’s guys getting off the bus.

“I spoke with (Sumlin) in the preseason, I said, ‘Coach, if you don’t screw this up, you’re gonna have something special.’ (A&M’s success in 2012) was not a surprise to me. A proven system with the type of caliber athletes that can make a difference, and the guy who’s concerned about it more than anybody else is Nick Saban. You’ve got a new player on the block in the West, and it’s A&M.”

re: Spencer Tillman: Saban is scared to death of Texas A&M (Posted on 1/27/13 at 1:20 pm to Bench McElroy)

I love Sumlin as a coach, think TAMU was one of the best teams in the nation last year, and think JFF is as legit as they come, but TAMU owes a lot of credit to the LSU/Alabama game the week prior to their game for beating Alabama.

re: Spencer Tillman: Saban is scared to death of Texas A&M (Posted on 1/27/13 at 1:45 pm to Projectpat)

Here's the thing, Tebow did Alabama a similar way in the 2008 SEC Championship Game. The very next year, Saban met Tebow again and this time shut him down. Next year's defense will be better and faster than this year's.